What kind of crabs are reef safe?
- Thread starter yannifish
- Start date
ophiura
Active Member
I disagree on the emeralds (personal experience
)
IMO, the only crabs that are truly reef safe are things like porcelain crabs- those that are filter feeders.
Emeralds, hermits, sally light foots, etc IMO all pose some risk toward things we like to keep in reef tanks. Larger emeralds, in particular, may cause problems (I've caught one eating a leather). Most crabs are opportunistic, meaning most things are fair game if times are tough.
IMO, the only crabs that are truly reef safe are things like porcelain crabs- those that are filter feeders.
Emeralds, hermits, sally light foots, etc IMO all pose some risk toward things we like to keep in reef tanks. Larger emeralds, in particular, may cause problems (I've caught one eating a leather). Most crabs are opportunistic, meaning most things are fair game if times are tough.
rainmkr07
Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
I disagree on the emeralds (personal experience
)
IMO, the only crabs that are truly reef safe are things like porcelain crabs- those that are filter feeders.
Emeralds, hermits, sally light foots, etc IMO all pose some risk toward things we like to keep in reef tanks. Larger emeralds, in particular, may cause problems (I've caught one eating a leather). Most crabs are opportunistic, meaning most things are fair game if times are tough.
I had a large emerald crab that I watched rip several claws and legs off of 2 other smaller emerald crabs in my tank. (1 of them died shortly thereafter, I am guessing he starved to death w/ no claws to feed himself). So I would suggest *small* emerald crabs are ok in a reef tank, but if you see a bigger one, that's 2-4" across, I would avoid it.
I disagree on the emeralds (personal experience
IMO, the only crabs that are truly reef safe are things like porcelain crabs- those that are filter feeders.
Emeralds, hermits, sally light foots, etc IMO all pose some risk toward things we like to keep in reef tanks. Larger emeralds, in particular, may cause problems (I've caught one eating a leather). Most crabs are opportunistic, meaning most things are fair game if times are tough.
I had a large emerald crab that I watched rip several claws and legs off of 2 other smaller emerald crabs in my tank. (1 of them died shortly thereafter, I am guessing he starved to death w/ no claws to feed himself). So I would suggest *small* emerald crabs are ok in a reef tank, but if you see a bigger one, that's 2-4" across, I would avoid it.
worldwide zoo
Member
True, emeralds and sally's are a bad choice for a reef. Emeralds are 50/50 with this and sally's are 100% bad when they get big. Strawberry crabs are related to emerald's and have less of a chance of munching later. So yeah, filter feeders for reefs. Masked acro crabs are fine too.